Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra are in the news today and sadly it’s not for positive reasons. Recent media reports began circulating with regard to Shilpa and Raj’s involvement in the alleged Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scam. Now, their legal counsel, Advocate Prashant Patil, has issued an official statement to clarify the matter. Read on to know what he said.
Official statement released for Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra’s case
Amid the ongoing Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scam, Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra’s advocate Prashant Patil has issued an official statement. He said, “At the outset, let us first clarify the fake media reports claiming that Mr Raj Kundra and his wife, Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra, have anything to do with the Ponzi scam involving cryptocurrency. That is not even the case of the Enforcement Directorate. It is clarified that Mr Raj Kundra and Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra have nothing to do with the so-called alleged Ponzi scam, which had its roots in 2017.”
Addressing the eviction notice, Advocate Patil stated, “There was an eviction notice issued by the ED against the residential properties of my clients, which has been stayed by the Honourable High Court, granting time to Mr Raj Kundra and Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra to file an appeal before the Honourable Appellate Tribunal at Delhi for further relief.”
He further emphasized, “It’s the duty of my clients to cooperate with the investigation of the Enforcement Directorate.”
Amidst the ongoing speculation, this statement serves to put an end to the misleading reports surrounding the couple’s involvement in the case and reiterates their commitment to cooperating with the authorities in an ongoing legal process.
Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Raj Kundra
About Crypto case
Kundra was linked to the Bitcoin Ponzi scam in April this year as the ED attached assets worth ₹98 crore. It includes the aforementioned properties and equity shares, as part of a money laundering probe. The case pertains to the alleged duping of investors through the use of cryptocurrency.
The scam first came to light after multiple former investors filed FIRs with the Maharashtra and Delhi Police. They had invested in the ‘Gain Bitcoin’ scheme with promoters assuring a 10% return per month in the form of bitcoins. FIRs were filed against a company called ‘Variable Tech’. They accused the promoters of collecting ₹6,600 crore from the investors in 2017.
The existing investors were initially paid in the manner of a pyramid scheme — using money from new investors. The payments eventually stopped when the company failed to rope in new investors. They allegedly bought Bitcoins with the remaining money and hid them in obscure online wallets.
According to the ED, Kundra was given 285 Bitcoins from the mastermind of the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scam for setting up a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. He allegedly remains in possession of the cryptocurrency — presently valued at more than ₹150 crore.
